Comfort
by DontDeny
Summary: Aaron seeks out Robert for comfort. (Trigger warning: brief mentions of abuse and self harm)


AN: I know this is not how the episode will go but I wanted cute fluffy Robron! My first ever a Robron story so I hope you enjoy!

Trigger warning: very brief mentions of abuse and self harm.

Disclaimer: sadly I do not own Emmerdale nor its characters, otherwise there'd be a lot more Robron scenes!

Aaron sighed. He was lying awake in bed into the early hours of the morning. Again. He hasn't slept properly for a week now. He felt tired all the time. And so drained. But he still couldn't sleep.  
He grabbed his phone off the side and checked the time. 1am. He sighed again. Ever since his dad came back onto the scene, his sleeping was just messed up. All he could think about was the past. It was like he was reliving it all over again. Those painful memories he'd tried so desperately hard to get rid of in the first place.  
He turned his pillow over to the cold side, pulled the quilt up to his neck and tried again to fall asleep.

He walked into the house. He'd had a stressful day at school. He'd been picked on again over something dumb. Some guy had said something about Chas leaving and how she clearly didn't love him. He'd almost hit him but hit a wall instead. He wouldn't get expelled, he just got put in isolation. Again. He'd get expelled if he wasn't careful. And now he was back in this house. With his dad and Sandra. He hated it here. Couldn't wait to be away.  
And then it happened. So many painful scenes from his past flashed before him. Hitting Sandra. Chas leaving. His dad hitting him over and over again. Jackson dying. Leaving the village. Robert Sugden flashed through. All the awful things he'd done. Then he heard a shot.  
"Robert!" Aaron sat bolt upright in a cold sweat. He realised he'd been dreaming. He rolled his eyes at himself. Out of all of those awful things to wake him up, it had to be Robert. He picked up his phone. Only an hour had passed by. And then he did something he never thought he would; he texted Robert.

Robert was, unsurprisingly, still asleep. He was a light sleeper though, which he wasn't always grateful for since he'd moved in with Victoria and Adam. So his phone going off woke him up instantly. He unlocked his phone, hurting his eyes from the bright light and saw the text from Aaron. He immediately got out of bed and started to get dressed. He tried to be as quiet as he could as to not wake his sister and her husband. She would wonder what he was up to and he really didn't want that conversation right now.  
Luckily the pub was close to the house. He thanked his lucky stars that Dianne had given him the back door key. Waking up Chas would be even worse than waking up Victoria. Everyone knew how much she hated him. But Aaron needed him and that's why he was here.

He entered Aaron's room and saw his face illuminated by the lamp. He looked so sad. Aaron wasn't exactly the cheeriest person he knew but he could see something was clearly wrong with him.

Robert sat on the bed next to him and looked at Aaron.  
"So, you texted?"  
Aaron looked a little embarrassed. After everything the two of them had been through, it was a shock to the system for both of them. "Yeah, I er, wanted to talk."  
Robert looked genuinely concerned. "Aaron, what's wrong?"  
He hesitated. "I had a dream."  
"You called me here because of a dream?"  
Aaron started to get frustrated. "No. It was what was in it. It was so real. Everything bad that's happened to me..." He trailed off as he saw the images flash before him. He shook his head.  
"Hey. Hey, it's okay."  
"No, Robert, it's not okay! Look." Aaron pulled his top up and Robert saw the fresh wounds. He winced.  
"You've been harming again?" The tone of Roberts voice changed completely. Aaron nodded.  
"Oh Aaron. You want to talk about this?"  
Aaron shook his head, letting the tears fall.  
Robert got under the quilt and lay down and Aaron followed his lead. Robert turned the lamp off. He cuddled into Aaron, holding him. "Let's just sleep." He said.  
This was the first time they'd ever slept together. They'd had plenty of nights spent together, sleeping together in the literal sense. But not like this. Not just for comfort. Aaron even drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

In the morning, Chas went to go tell Aaron she was off out. She was completely horrified to see him in bed with Robert Sugden. She had half the mind to storm in there and tell him to get out of her house. She almost did. But she saw the smile on Aaron's face, even in his sleep. It was the first time she'd seen him smile for a long time. She wasn't happy, but for that reason alone, she left them to it.


End file.
